But it's pretty clear to right-hander Jason Bergmann that he wants Riggleman back as manager. When the media criticized Bergmann's performance, Riggleman would be the one giving Bergmann words of encouragement.

"Unfortunately, the decision is not up to us. Everybody played hard. Riggleman did a great job managing us and keeping us together. We responded," Bergmann said. "His style was a bit different. He communicated a little bit more, but he was fantastic. I appreciate what he has done for me. I think a lot of guys will say the same thing."

Tyler Clippard, who became Riggleman's innings eater out of the bullpen, said: "He has seen what we have. He has a good feel for our team. He has been here all year. With him coming back, he can hit the ground running with this team, so I hope they keep him."

I was watching our last series down in FLA and the Extra Innings pkg. had the Marlins announcers on and they were saying how popular Willingham was in the clubhouse and the front office. Then added how they got the feeling that Josh would be back with the club someday. I thought, fine, great. Give us some good value and he's yours. Overpay for him. Fine with us.

Willingham performed exactly to his career averages. In six seasons, he's average .264/.363/.478/.841 with 22 HR's and 69 RBI's. (And that's excluding his first two years where he barely played... that would have made his seasonal stats even worse... making this year look that much better.)

If Dunn had finished with a ~.280 BA and 40+ HRs you could have concluded that he had a career season.

Willingham should have finished with ~30 HRs and .280 BA.

What would a career season have done for us? Like Linty said, he performed to what was expected. Hes a consistent player each year, thats something to be wanted from our players. If he does it again next year, we wont have to worry about his offense.

Linty I know it's maddening but you'll really feel a lot better if you just realize that SF is cuckoo for Zimmerman puffs and refuses to acknowledge anything positive that Dunn does, ever. I know it doesn't make sense at all, but that's just how it is.

Linty I know it's maddening but you'll really feel a lot better if you just realize that SF is cuckoo for Zimmerman puffs and refuses to acknowledge anything positive that Dunn does, ever. I know it doesn't make sense at all, but that's just how it is.

He has a point, though. WAR is a comprehensive rating system that accounts for defense. 1.2 is a pathetic number, and not the WAR of someone you'd consider an all star.

He's welcome to point that out, but...

Quote

Personally, though, I think WAR is flawed.

This.

WAR is such an abstract stat that I'm not sure how seriously it can really be taken. I'm all for noting Dunn's defensive deficiencies when considering his overall value as a player, but we both know that quoting WAR is just SF "Dunn's defense cost us 30 runs in the first 1/4 of the season" grasping at straws because he can't stand to acknowledge that a career (offensive) year for Zimmerman is a career AVERAGE year for Dunn.